Not Alone
by aspiringenjolras
Summary: Three Months after the events at Monkswell Manor, the Ralstons have some unexpected visitors.
1. Chapter 1

**This fic was inspired by a headcanon exchange I had with tumblr user medicationmambo. It's going to be long. I can tell. Here is the first chapter**

So he was a little bit distrusting. That was to be expected, wasn't it? Because for the past three months he had been confined to his private room in Bethlem Royal Hospital's Psychosis Unit. In fact, the most adventuring he had been allowed was down the hallway to the tiny rec center. No one had actually told him how "ill" he was, but he heard them talking. That was the problem with being one of just 20 inpatients. You hear everything. So of course he overheard them talking about how he was a "raving lunatic", "dangerous", "crazed murderer"... they were all true of course. But nonetheless unpleasant to hear. For the past three months, despite the fact that he had been on his absolute best behavior, and had only relapsed twice this month, he hadn't been allowed to do anything. They were all scared of him. Of what he could do. Of what he would do.

So that's why Georgie refused to believe Kathy when she told him that he was allowed to leave for a few hours, under her supervision. Once she had coaxed him out of his room, he trailed after her down the hallway, fear in his eyes. As if he was certain someone was going to grab him from behind and drag him back to his room. Lock him up. Like they wanted to. He knew they wanted to. He had killed two people. Almost a third. It would've been a third if Kathy hadn't… the thought still frightened him.

But somehow they made it out the door and by god, Georgie had forgotten what fresh air smelled like. What it was like to have the wind on your face, even if it was a cold March wind. He smiled widely, and grabbed Kathy's hands, spinning both of them around with a joyous laugh.

"Look at all the trees and the grass and the fluffy white clouds, Kathy!" She smiled back at him, more joyful than she would actually let on. She took his hand gently and they walked off down the street briskly.

After a moment, Georgie paused. "Where are we going?" he asked curiously. Kathy hesitated.

"It's a surprise," she said finally, with a small smile. Georgie brightened, as if the idea of a surprise was quite appealing, and asked no more questions. They got in a cab, and Kathy whispered an address to the cabbie, and off they went. When the cab pulled up at the curb in front of the large building, it took Georgie a moment to recognize it. He hadn't spent a lot of time studying the outside of it. But the sign on the front of the house- the name-

Georgie took a few rapid steps backward, stumbling away from the guest house. "No. No, I'm not going in there."

"Georgie," Kathy said, patiently but rationally, "I daresay you have less of a reason to be afraid than they will. In fact, I probably should've rang up before… Well, too late now."

His voice was very quiet. "But what if I- if I…"

She placed a comforting hand on his arm. "You won't. You've gotten so much better. That's why you're allowed to leave with me for a few hours. And the doctors agreed that it was important you come here. You are strong now, Georgie. You can do this."

He peered at her, nervous, but trusting. Then he nodded, and something in his demeanour changed. He stood up straighter, held his head higher, and straightened his tie. "I can do this," he echoed. With an encouraging smile from Kathy, he marched up to the door and rang the doorbell. He almost fled the step as soon as he'd done it, but he dug his heels into the ground and waited for someone to answer the door. He wasn't sure who he dreaded seeing more- the husband or the wife.

It was the husband after all- Giles Ralston, Georgie remembered. It took a moment for him to register who was standing before him, but when his eyes widened in shock, Georgie found himself standing in front a door that had been slammed in his face. He didn't move, just stood there, frozen. Then from inside the house he heard Mr. Ralston shouting, "Mollie! Call the police- he's escaped!"

Georgie froze and then scurried off the doorstep and ran back to Kathy who was still by the street. She opened her arms and he ran into them, and buried his face against her neck. He was shaking. "I'm sorry…" he whispered. "I tried… they're going to call the police… they're going to take me away and I didn't do anything- why did you bring me back here?" He sounded angry, but his voice was so distorted from sniffling that it hardly came across as threatening.

"Shh, Georgie, it's going to be okay. We're leaving, we're leaving…" She turned them around, only for them to be stopped by another voice calling from the house.

"Miss Casewell!" Kathy turned around, tugging Georgie with her. The voice came from a young man standing framed in the doorway. She remembered him- Christopher Wren. The eccentric young fellow who everyone else had suspected, but was hardly threatening at all. Georgie seemed to recognize him too, and relaxed just a bit. "Do come inside," Christopher Wren urged. "It's okay now, I swear." Georgie and Kathy exchanged a quick look, and then Georgie nodded slowly and started walking back up the path to the door. His eyes wandered to the large window which he recalled so vividly from before, and then locked back on the young man who was ushering them into the house. "It may not be winter anymore, but it sure feels it!"

They were greeted inside by a very nervous looking Mollie Ralston, who made sure to keep herself as far away from Georgie as possible. Of course he noticed. And that only made him more afraid too. A great combination, he thought sullenly.

"Miss Casewell!" Mollie stammered. "This is a surprise… You must understand… We were worried but Chris saw you out on the street too so we figured it was probably okay… Giles went upstairs… I hope you understand…" Kathy brushed her comments away with a wave of her hand and strolled into the sitting room, settling herself down in a chair. The couch, which Mrs. Boyle had died on, she noticed, was gone.

"Please, call me Kathy. It causes him great distress when I use my newer name." Mollie nodded, slowly, and sat down opposite her. Georgie was lingering further behind, eyes darting back and forth nervously. "Georgie, come here," she murmured, patting the sofa next to her. He nodded and paced over, sitting down quickly and not meeting Mollie's inquisitive gaze.

"I… I don't know where to begin," Mollie said after a minute, helplessly. "I'm a bit at a loss for words. Rather shocked, actually." She stood up. "Surprised that you-" she directed her words towards Georgie now, "Would have the nerve to come back here, after- after…" She sat back down quickly. Georgie shrank away a bit, and curled his hands into fists, only to keep them from shaking.

"Please don't, Mrs. Ralston," Kathy said coldly. "If you would like us to leave, we will. But if you are willing to hear what we have to say, then, pray don't speak so aggressively."

Mollie gaped at her. "Aggressively? Aggressively? It was your brother who…" she trailed off as Georgie lept to his feet and bolted to the door. "Oh, alright. I'm sorry." Her voice was quiet. Kathy got up and walked slowly over to Georgie, and after speaking to him in a low voice, they returned to the sofa together.

"I will spare you the tragic details of my brother's past, for I know you are quite familiar with them already," Kathy said coolly. "What has happened since is this: He was admitted to the National Psychosis Unit at Bethlem Royal Hospital in London as an inpatient. He has been restricted to his room for the past three months, spare meals, and his time in therapy. He has been on incredibly good behavior, and has relapsed a minimal amount of times. Considerably less than the average patient with a case like his."

"That's not a very good comparison," Georgie muttered quietly. "I heard them talking. They said I was the only one like me." Kathy squeezes his hand, but only shook her head and continued.

"The point is, most patients with severe Schizophrenia aren't allowed to leave the hospital this soon unless accompanied by one of the doctors. But they felt Georgie was ready. They suggested I bring him here. They seemed to think it would help his recovery."

Mollie nodded slowly, taking it all in. "I think I understand," she said. "But I do wish you had called ahead, Miss Ca- Kathy." She corrected herself with a sharp glance towards Georgie. "It would have caused many less issues."

"I'm sorry," Kathy said, and she did sound apologetic. "I was only informed of this whole thing this morning. I didn't have much time to think. I was simply overjoyed that he- well, that he's getting better. And besides," she added as an afterthought. "This is hard enough to explain in person. Imagine over the phone!" Mollie nodded, unable to argue any further.

They sat in silence for a few moments longer. Then Mollie stood up abruptly. "Would either of you like tea?"

Kathy only nodded, and it was Georgie who actually spoke up. "Yes please, Mrs. Ralston. Thank you." It sounded almost rehearsed, and yet his voice was confident and polite, and the words were genuine. Mollie blinked in surprise, then smiled, almost reluctantly.

"Right away, you two," she said, then whirled around the corner into the kitchen.


	2. Chapter 2

p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Georgie and Kathy sat for a few minutes in uncomfortable silence. Finally, Kathy cleared her throat and squeezed Georgie's hand. "Do you regret coming? We can… now that we've explained everything, we can leave if you want. I understand if this is too hard for you."/span/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Georgie blinked and thought about it for a moment. "No," he said finally. "I'd rather like to stay, I think. It's not as bad as I anticipated." He lowered his voice so no one in the adjoining rooms could hear him. "I don't understand though. Why aren't they more afraid? Especially Mrs. Ralston. The people from the hospital have known me for three months and they're still afraid to look me in the eye. I haven't even done anything to them. But I tried to /spanspan style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"kill /spanspan style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Mrs. Ralston. I would have if you hadn't arrived right at that moment… And she's /spanspan style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"forgiven /spanspan style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"me. Well," he corrected himself. "She's not running away screaming in fear. That's a start… isn't it?"/span/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Kathy nodded with a small smile. "Mollie is a very kind woman," she said. "She will forgive you, I think, eventually. But it will take time. And patience and trust. But as I said, we don't have to do it if you're not comfortable."/span/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""No, I want to. My therapist said that I need to start reconciling with what happened. I'm not sure I intended for it to be like this, but I'll take what I can get. It's probably best, in the long run."/span/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Kathy smiled at him, almost a little sadly. "You really… you are so grown up, Georgie. I know it doesn't feel like it sometimes. Even I forget you're not a little kid. But then you say such profound things like that." She hugged him fiercely. "I'm so proud of you. You've come so far the past few months. And I'm so glad I found you."/span/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"What she didn't say was how much she thought about what might've happened if she hadn't ended up at Monkswell Manor. That was just by chance. Fate, maybe, except Kathy didn't believe in fate. That might've made it easier, if she did. But she didn't, and the fact was, if she hadn't found Monkswell Manor at the last minute when picking a guest house, none of this would've happened. Well. Lots of things would've happened, actually- Mollie Ralston, for instance would probably be dead. And if she got out of it alive, then Georgie would probably be locked up in prison or worse, instead of sitting on the Ralstons' sofa beside her./span/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"She thought back to what she had said three months ago, in the few minutes before Georgie had attempted his third murder. /spanspan style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"I wish to god I'd never come here. /spanspan style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"It was that moment that she had finally realized- it of course had been a lingering suspicion all along, but she had denied it over and over again. She didn't want it to be her brother, but it only made sense. And although Georgie had made quite a believable policeman, there are some things a sister can never forget./span/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"A face. A voice. A look of satisfaction, and one of fear. /spanspan style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"The way you twirled your hair, just like you always used to. /spanspan style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"No. There are some things you don't forget./span/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"I wish to god I'd never come here. /spanspan style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Why had she said that? It didn't make sense now. If she hadn't come, then what? The alternative, as she had decided, was too horrendous to think about. She had been scared, she supposed. Scared about what would happen if she was right, and Sergeant Trotter was Georgie Corrigan, and Georgie Corrigan the murderer. There had been no doubt about this in her mind. Because above and beyond the fact that she was inclined to believe the authoritative policeman, she knew in her heart that Georgie fit the bill. Not just in police description, but in the fact that he would have done it./span/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"And he would've done it by strangling. She had forgotten until much later the vow he made when they were just kids. /spanspan style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"I'll kill them. I'll kill them all, one day. Because grownups can do whatever they like. /spanspan style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"She supposed she had just written it off as a simple statement of an angry and heartbroken child. And she too, had been just a child, a year older than Georgie. But still, she felt she should've seen what was going on in his head, should've known… She could've stopped it. She could've stopped all of it. She could've stopped the murder of Mrs. Stanning, and taken Georgie somewhere safe before he could do any harm./span/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"She had always been the only person who could get through to him./span/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Her thoughts were interrupted by Mollie returning to the living room with the tea. Georgie wouldn't look at her, his eyes trained firmly on the ground as he accepted the cup with a quiet "Thank you."/span/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Mollie took her own cup, but placed it down on the table, mostly ignoring it. Georgie was just holding his, as if he was letting it warm his hands./span/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""So," Mollie said after a moment. "Kathy. How have… /spanspan style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"what /spanspan style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"have you been doing the past three months? You've been staying somewhere in London?"/span/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Kathy pursed her lips, silent for a moment, as if she wasn't sure she wanted to divulge that information. There was no reason to keep it a secret, she knew that logically, but she had always been a private person. She didn't need the sympathy that Mollie was so clearly offering. She didn't /spanspan style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"want/spanspan style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"it. So /spanspan style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"why /spanspan style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"did she answer in such detail?/span/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Yes. I've been renting a small apartment in the city. Found myself a couple of roommates to split the cost with. Still, I didn't intend to…" She shot a look at Georgie. This was something she hadn't told him. "When I made the arrangements, I didn't think I'd be here for this long. My roommates move out next week and I really can't afford to stay there on my own. I'm not quite sure where I'll go after. I suppose I ought to—-"/span/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Georgie's head shot up, and he looked like he was about to drop his tea. "You're not going back." It wasn't a threat— in fact, it came out as more of a whine, a quiet plea. "Please. Don't leave me alone."/span/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""I…" Kathy's face scrunched up in concentration. "Even if I /spanspan style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"could /spanspan style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"stay here, I have affairs to settle at home in Majorca. But I'm not going to have a place to stay."/span/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Mollie looked between the two siblings, staring at each other, one looking upset but defiant, the other looking upset and concerned. "You know…" she said slowly. "I don't see why you can't stay here."/span/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Stay here? At Monkswell Manor? Mrs. Ralston, I appreciate the thought, but I don't need your /spanspan style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"charity/span /spanspan style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"."/span/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""/span span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Miss Casewell/span /spanspan style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"," Mollie said coolly, "I'm not offering you charity. I've giving you a chance to stay in England for your brother's sake." They both turned to look at Georgie, looking between the two of them with wide eyes, still gripping the teacup. His knuckles were white. "We have a deal with Christopher. He stays here for a reduced rate and helps us around the house. Since the whole affair, while we've gotten a lot of attention, business has been slower. Give us a hand, and you have a place to stay, only an hour from London."/span/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Kathy turned to Georgie, eyes searching his face. "Would that… make you happy? If I stayed?" He nodded slowly, seriously. "Okay. I'd need to still go home and take care of some things. But I'll be back. Shouldn't take me more than a week."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Do you promise?" his voice was pleading, cautious. /spanspan style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"He can't take another heartbreak./span/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""If it makes you feel better, I'll collect a month of rent in advance from your sister," Mollie said, and she actually cracked a smile, an almost /spanspan style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"fond/spanspan style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"smile. Kathy whipped her head around in annoyance but the glare faded before their eyes met. /spanspan style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"If she can get used to my brother, then I can tolerate her/span /spanspan style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"./span/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""That sounds agreeable," she said finally, and took Georgie's hand. "That way I can still come to see you as much as you want."/span/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Or you can come back and visit here," Mollie suggested./span/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Mr. Ralston won't mind that?"/span/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Georgie," Mollie said gently, and it was almost like she was speaking to one of her schoolchildren. /spanspan style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"To Jimmy. /spanspan style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Giles is simply worried about me. If I'm fine with it, he will be too." /spanspan style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Is that really true, or is she just saying that?/spanbr /br /span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"span style="font-style: oblique;"Does she pity us? /span/span/p 


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